Ketchup
by themiraculousladyblog
Summary: When an injured Chat Noir shows up on Marinette's balcony, the designer doesn't know what to do. How can she help Chat without him revealing his identity to her?
1. Knives Leave Gashes

**Chapter 1: Knives Leave Gashes**

* * *

Marinette tiptoed back to her room, a first aid kit hidden under her arm and blood on her fingertips.

"Marinette?" The girl froze when her father caught sight of her. He looked her up and down before fixing his eyes on her hands. "What happened? What's wrong?"

Biting her lip, Marinette thought back to fifteen minutes earlier.

* * *

_Marinette thought her night would be calm and quiet. Chat Noir was patrolling, which gave her extra time to work on her homework and newest designs. She didn't expect her partner to land on her balcony. She didn't expect him to tap on her window and she definitely didn't expect him to be bleeding._

_"Chat?" she asked as she let him in. Marinette caught a glimpse of red seeping through his suit. "Please tell me that's ketchup."_

_Chat Noir cracked a weak smile. "Cats do love their tomatoes," he joked before his hand went to his side and he bent over in pain. Marinette rushed to hold him up and walked him over to her bed. _

_"What happened?" she asked him, moving her books so he could sit. _

_"Uh, you know, normal superhero stuff..." _

_"Akuma?" Marinette wondered aloud. How had she not heard? She should've been out with him, fighting the akumatized victim. Not in here doing scien-_

_"Not an akuma."_

_"Then what? And why didn't you contact Ladybug?" _

_Chat chuckled slightly and winced at the pain. "Some baddies were trying to rob a bank. I stopped them."_

_"Then what is this?" Her fingers touched where the hero had been holding a moment ago. She drew her hand back and stared at the blood on her fingertips. _

_"One of them had a knife. He snagged me, it's nothing."_

_Marinette gave a frown and looked around before she grabbed a piece of cloth and pressed it to the area. Chat let out a hiss as his hands gripped her quilt. "It doesn't seem like nothing."_

_"It's just a scratch, I promise."_

_"Cats leave scratches, knives leave gashes."_

_"Hehe, that rhymes."_

_"Chat... You should be at a hospital, or at least at your own home-"_

_"No."_

_"No?" The teen looked at Chat surprised. "Why not?"_

_"I can't go home... Not like this..." _

_"What about the hospital?"_

_"They wouldn't understand... You're the only one-"_

_"I can't help you."_

_It was now Chat's turn to look surprised. "Why not?"_

_"In order for me to help you, you'd have to change back, and I can't know your identity."_

_"Doesn't matter... No time..."_

_"I thought you said they just snagged you."_

_"Please," Chat looked at Marinette, silently begging her to help him. She looked at him before glancing at Tikki, who was safely hidden by her desk. Tikki gave a nod and Marinette bit her lip looking back at Chat._

* * *

"Marinette!" The designer blinked, her father breaking her out of her thoughts. "Are you okay? Do I need to get your Mother?"

"No!" Marinette said a little too quickly. "I mean, no... I'm fine, Papa. I just... poked myself with a needle."

"That's a lot of blood for a small prick."

"I was just so tired! Yeah, haha, I was trying to work on a new outfit and I'm so tired that I poked myself a couple of times."

Tom looked closer at Marinette's hands suspiciously. She quickly hid them behind her back and gave a nervous smile. "Well, okay... If you need help let me know. And please, go to sleep."

"Yes, papa, love you," she kissed him on the cheek and then scurried back to her bedroom. Tom Dupain shook his head at his daughter and left the living room, turning out the light.

* * *

Marinette closed her bedroom door and began giving Chat a piece of her mind. "You'd better be happy I'm clumsy and injure myself a lot. If my Dad found out you were here he'd freak. Why couldn't you have just gone-" she turned and stopped talking. There, lying on her bed, was Adrien Agreste. _The_ Adrien Agreste. The _same_ Adrien Agreste she had a _crush_ on.

He was on her bed bleeding. Which meant Adrien was Cat Noir.

"Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh," Marinette began freaking out. "Adrieniscatnoirican'tbelievethisihaveacrushoncatnoir!"

"Uh, hey, I know you're probably processing a lot right now, but my owner is kind of bleeding to death!" Plagg flew over to Marinette.

"Right, right. Bleeding." She shook her head. "Fix now, process later." Marinette made her way over to Adrien, to see the blood now soaking his shirt. "That does not look good."

"M-Marinette?" Adrien opened his eyes slightly.

"Hi, Adrien."

"I'm-"

"Don't talk, we'll discuss all of this later. Right now, I need to check your 'graze,'" Marinette said and pulled his shirt up slightly. He winced as she peeled back the bloody cloth and her eyes widened. "Adrien, this is bad."

"It's just my love bleeding out for you." He gave her a goofy grin. The pain killers she had given him earlier had obviously set in. Strong medicine she had received from Master Fu after they decided that if she was ever injured to where the Miraculous Ladybugs couldn't heal them all, she'd have to do it herself. Which had happened... a couple of times...

She blushed and then frowned. "Stop it."

"What?"

"You don't like me like that."

"Yes, I do. I'm pretty sure I love you."

"No, it's the medicine. You don't know what you're saying."

"Mari-" Marinette quickly pressed a warm washcloth against his wound, making him hiss.

"We need to get this stitched up," she said and pulled a needle from her sewing kit before sterilizing it with alcohol. "Try not to scream, okay?"

"Anything for you, Princess." Adrien gave a flirty wink. Yup, definitely Cat Noir. Marinette rolled her eyes and threaded some string through the needle. She then proceeded to sew Adrien's wound closed, hoping her parents didn't hear the whimpering coming from the model.

Once she was finished, Marinette placed a gauze pad on the closed wound and wrapped more gauze around his stomach, tying it in a taut knot right above the cut. He winced again and then looked down. "Doctor Marinette! You fixed me! I LOOOOOVE YOU!" The bluenette covered his mouth with her hand.

"Shhh!" She shushed him. "Don't do that! You'll wake up my parents!"

Adrien's smile turned into a frown and tears gathered in his eyes. "I'm sorry! I'm such a bad person! No one will ever love me!"

Marinette's eyes widened and she looked at Plagg, who shrugged, "He's got issues," was all the kwami said.

"It's okay, Adrien, it's okay. I love you," she tried to soothe him.

"Y-You do?" He wiped his eyes and glanced up at Marinette.

"Mhmm. But it's a secret, you can't tell anybody."

"But I'm not good at keeping secrets!" He wailed. Marinette groaned and pulled her covers up to his chest.

"Hush, now, minou, you can sleep here for the night." She gave him a kiss on the head. "Tomorrow we'll talk, okay?"

The model quieted down and nodded, pulling the covers closer to himself. The designer watched as he drifted off to sleep, exhaustion finally taking over. She then went to the bathroom and washed her hands before grabbing a sleeping bag and pillow, settling on the ground for the night. "Goodnight Tikki, Plagg," she said.

"Goodnight," the kwamis responded and the house fell silent.


	2. Cats Leave Scratches

**Chapter 2: Cats Leave Scratches**

* * *

_Something was tickling her face... her chin... _

Marinette tried to brush it away a couple times but to no avail. "Tikki... Leave me alone," she muttered as she moved away slightly. Arms tightened around her waist and she stopped, her eyes opening. _Definitely not Tikki..._

She looked down and saw blonde hair. Blonde hair that belonged to a certain model. Marinette looked over at the empty place on the floor, trying to remember how she ended up in the bed.

Oh, yes, now she remembered. Sometime, not too long after she fell asleep, she woke up to use the bathroom just to come back to Adrien sitting up and tears streaming down his face on the bed, clutching a pillow in between his arms.

_"I thought you left me... Just like Mom..." _

Marinette didn't realize how much Adrien's mother leaving had affected him. So, when he asked her to lay with him, she couldn't refuse. Sure, it could've been the drugs, which it probably was, but he looked so lost that Marinette set aside her crush to comfort him.

But that was last night. Now, in the morning, the medicine will have worn off and she didn't know how she felt about Adrien waking up with his 'good friend' in the same bed. So she carefully maneuvered herself away, or at least tried to. Adrien's arms seemed to tighten with every move the designer made. Marinette was able to scooch to the edge of the bed before he woke up and looked at her.

"Marinette?"

"Ah!" She fell off the bed at the sound of her name. Marinette looked up to see green eyes looking over the side.

"Are you okay?" He asked and went to help her up but winced at the pain in his side.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." The bluenette stood up on her own and brushed herself off before looking at Adrien's bare chest. _Do not stare. Do not stare. This is Cat Noir, the same person you sewed up last night. _"How are you feeling?"

"Besides the pain in my side and the headache I have? Fine."

"Nothing that won't go away in time."

"Yeah... Marinette, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put you in this position. But I couldn't find Ladybug and with my Dad, he'd question and I couldn't have him find out and-" Marinette put a finger to Adrien's lips.

"Breakfast first, talk after."

"Breakfast?"

"Mhmm. I mean, unless you're not hungry for croissants."

"Breakfast sounds great!" Adrien sat up quickly, which he regretted. His hand flew to his side where the gauze was wrapped and he hissed in pain.

Marinette winced at the sound. "I'll go get some food. Stay here and don't make a sound," she ordered before exiting the room.

Adrien tapped his fingers on the bed and looked around. It was a pretty cute room, very welcoming, though you could tell Marinette was in the middle of a big designing project what with all the fabric and other sewing supplies everywhere. The pictures of himself were still up, obviously because Marinette loved fashion, and then Adrien caught sight of a black kwami.

"Plagg!" Adrien whisper-yelled and the small cat stretched and yawned before looking at his chosen.

"Oh, hey, kid," Plagg said flying over. "Got any cheese? I'm so hungry!"

"What happened last night after I got injured and arrived here? Please tell me I didn't do anything stupid in front of Marinette."

"You mean like shout, 'I LOOOVE YOU' at the top of your lungs and bursting out crying when she told you to be quiet?"

Adrien groaned and face palmed. "You're joking, right? I didn't actually do that?"

"Cheese, Adrien, I'm losing my strength to talk. I _need _Camembert!"

"Plagg. This is serious! Did I make a fool of myself in front of Marinette?"

Plagg laughed and nodded. "Ah, it was a spectacle, let me tell you. Poor pigtails didn't know what to do. Ended up cuddling with you after you thought she abandoned you when she just went to the bathroom."

"I'm an idiot..."

"No, you're not." Adrien jumped and turned around to see Marinette holding a tray of croissants and two cups of orange juice.

"Oh, Marinette... How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to know that the little flying creature near your head is hungry." The designer held out some cheese danishes. "I'm not sure it's Camembert, but it's the only cheesy thing I could find."

Plagg looked at her for a moment before speeding to the baked goods. "Thank you, Marinette!" He looked at Adrien. "See, having a baker as your girlfriend would really benefit your stomach."

Marinette and Adrien looked at each other, blushing, and she continued on the way to the bed. "Uh, I know you like croissants, so I brought some chocolate ones and normal ones." The model smiled at her and began eating.

They were silent for a couple minutes as they ate before Marinette broke the silence.

"So..."

"So?"

"I suppose we need to talk about the elephant in the room."

"Or, in this situation, cat in the room," Adrien joked at Marinette just looked at him. "Ahem, sorry."

"Adrien, it was very stupid to reveal your identity to me last night! Not just that but also coming here injured! What were you thinking?!"

"Uh... There were bad guys and I had to stop them?"

Marinette stood up and began pacing. "You know very well our superhero identities must remain secret! What would Master Fu say?!" Marinette gasped. "What will Alya say if she catches you here when she comes to walk with me to school?!"

"I'm sorry, did you just say _our _superhero identities?"

"What am I going to do now? Adrien, the boy I have a crush on, is Cat Noir! The boy I've been rejecting for _months! _This is horrible, terrible, really _really _bad!"

Adrien looked over at Plagg who was watching with an amused look on his face. "Marinette-"

"Not only that, but I have _Adrien freaking Agreste _in my _bedroom! _How am I supposed to deal with this?!"

"Marinette!"

The designer stopped and turned to Adrien. "What?"

"Our identities? _Our _identities?" He stood up and walked closer to her. "Are you Ladybug?"

"What? No. Pfft. No. Me? Marinette? Ladybug? That's crazy," Marinette began walking backwards, hoping he would stop walking towards her. "Why aren't you stopping? You're, you're still walking towards me, do you know that?" Adrien ignored her and continued until Marinette backed up into a wall. "Oh... Look at that. A wall in the most inconvenient place. Listen, Adrien, I know how it sounded but I was joking, get it? Haha, just a joke!"

Adrien placed his hands against the wall so that they were on either side of Marinette's head. "M'lady?" He spoke low and the tone sent shivers down her spine.

Marinette gulped and bit her lip, looking anywhere except for Adrien's face. "Y-You weren't supposed to find out," she said quietly.

His mouth turned upward into a smile. "I can't believe it. You were sitting right behind me the entire time..."

"Took you guys long enough to figure it out, didn't it, Sugarcube?" Their eyes snapped to where Plagg and a pink kwami were sitting.

"I told you not to call me that, Stinky Sock!" The female kwami said. Adrien straightened and placed his hands back by his sides before looking at Marinette.

"I assume that's your kwami?"

She nodded. "Adrien, meet Tikki."

"Hello," the little ladybug buzzed over to Adrien. "Though it seems we've already met."

"I suppose we have," Adrien laughed. "But it's still a pleasure." As he turned back to glance at the bluenette, he found she was looking worriedly at the window. "Mari?"

"We have a lot to figure out," She said. "I mean, you're in love with Ladybug. I'm in love with y-a boy. We both go to school, have the same friends... What do we do? It's not like we can forget this. And you're still injured! How will you model with an injury?" Marinette was so busy babbling that she didn't realize Adrien walking towards her again until she felt his breath on the back of her neck, causing her to quickly turn around. "And-oh, wow, you're close."

Adrien placed his hand under her chin. "This is what we do," he whispered before tilting her head slightly and pressing his lips against her. Marinette tense at first, before melting into the kiss and wrapping her arms around his neck. Adrien moved his hands to her back and pulled her closer to him so that they were almost flush against each other.

Both were so busy neither of them heard Alya open the trapdoor.

_"WHAT THE F-"_


End file.
